CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday acquitted the controversial head of Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in the murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. Pointing out several lapses in the probe carried by the investigating agency in the case, the HC held that the alleged weapon used to allegedly shoot dead Ranjit was never used in the commission of crime.

Speaking for the division bench, Justice Sureshwar Thakur, in a 163-page order, was of the view that investigating officers in this case "carried out a tainted and sketchy investigation into the crime event, besides also they collected evidence which is unworthy of credence."
In its detailed order, the HC bench also held that the intellectual strength of the investigating officer in this case appears to have "become staticised (sic) by the glare of media publicity."
The judge observed that the car, which was allegedly used in the commission of the crime, was never seized.Referring to statements made by some of the prime witnesses in this case, the HC observed that these witnesses in their respective statements had stated that all the four assailants were armed with firearm weapons, but none of those weapons were seized by the CBI. Giving clean chit to the dera chief, the HC held that the CBI did not prepare a site plan of the place where the alleged conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh was hatched on June 16, 2002.
The division bench, comprising Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra, passed these orders while allowing an appeal filed by the Sirsa dera chief and four others against their conviction.
CBI judge had fined Ram Rahim `31L
They were awarded life imprisonment by the CBI special court in Panchkula on October 18, 2021 by special CBI judge Sushil Kumar Garg. Four others convicted with the dera chief in the case were Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh and Sabdil Singh. One of the accused had died during the trial.
CHANDIGARH
The CBI judge had also slapped a fine of Rs 31 lakh on the dera chief, Rs 1.5 lakh on Sabdil, Rs 1.25 lakh each on Jasbir and Krishan and Rs 75,000 on Avtar.
As per the CBI case, former dera manager Ranjit Singh was shot dead in 2002 allegedly on the directions of the dera chief. Ranjit Singh was eliminated for his suspected role in circulation of an anonymous letter that narrated how women were being sexually exploited by the dera head.
Killed for differences with dera chief
As per the CBI chargesheet, the dera chief suspected the hand of Ranjit Singh, former dera manager and resident of Kurukshetra, in the circulation of an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women followers and hatched a conspiracy and killed him on Ju ly 10, 2002. The dera chief, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil were prosecuted in this case. Another accused, Inder Sain, died on October 8, 2020.
Ranjit Singh was returning on his motorcycle after serving tea to his father working in the fields at Khanpur Kolian village of Kurukshetra, when four people fired at him and fled. He died of bullet injuries. Sabdil, the gunman of Ram Rahim, and Jasbir were identified to be among the four assailants.
Case for castration of followers
The dera head is also facing allegations of castration of his followers inside the Sirsa dera.
On February 1, 2018, the CBI had charged him and two doctors in this case. As per chargesheet, a large number of followers were castrated at the behest of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by these two doctors.
The complainant in this case claimed that he along with around 400 sadhus of the Sirsa dera were allegedly castrated inside the dera with the false hope that the males who would get castrated would be able to achieve God through the dera head.
The investigation by CBI revealed that Gurmeet Ram Rahim had adopted tactics of showing his closeness with such devotees who succumbed to his pressure for castration. The trial is currently pending before the CBI court in Panchkula.